


love is choosing (the snake said)

by opheliahyde



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: Ableism, Ableist Language, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Fix-It, Mental Coercion, Mental Instability, Multi, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 03:30:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7343026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opheliahyde/pseuds/opheliahyde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Always cis!female Geckos. <i>They never should have gone to Mexico.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	love is choosing (the snake said)

**Author's Note:**

> title from margaret atwood's poem “quattrocento,” in _interlunar_

Richie dreams of a woman with long dark hair and sloe-eyes, like coal, deep and endless, fathomless—there’s a universe in her eyes; something dark, lurking around the corner.

(She is not her sister, not Seth with her honey-brown eyes staring up at her like Richie reached in and tore something vital out, ripped it with her bare hands when she told her  _no, not that job,_ instead of the thirty-five times she said  _yes_ —Seth’s eyes, rimmed in red, smudged around her eyes, made out of rage and betrayal, her one last look before she turned her back, leaving Richie with her eyes to haunt her, after they took her inside.)

The woman whispers to her at night, when she’s awake– _come to me, set me free_ –twisting and turning inside her head, eyes flashing golden, pupils slitted, a nightmare she can’t escape from, what she makes her see, the blood and the carnage, the people that become monstrous and scaled– _demons_ , she thinks, then laughs, shaking as she pours whiskey down her throat, living for the burn, the tangible reality of feeling, even if it is sharp pain that turns her throat raw.

 

 

 _I’m not crazy_ , Richie tells herself, like a mantra, a new motto, but it never sticks (maybe they were right after all, the whispers that followed her— _Seth and her crazy sister, the one that wouldn’t look you in the eye, the one with the blunt mouth and no social graces, the one that rambled or stayed silent, ever at her sister’s side, unsettling and disconcerting_ —maybe she’s finally earned _Jesus you’re crazy_ , maybe she’s finally lost it for good.

( _Set me free_ , the woman moans, taloned hands ghosting over her face, her lips, body pressing against her against the dirt, pinning Richie there as she draws closer, breathless mouth hovering over hers—Richie wants to spit at her, roll her around and throttle her;  _set you free_ , dances across her tongue like fire, teeth set, grinding,  _why the fuck would I set you free when my sister rots in a jail cell?_

The woman’s weight is gone, and Prichard’s flashlight shines in her eyes.)

 

 

Seth is warm on top of Richie, shoving her to the dingy motel mattress like she can’t help it, can’t help but get her hands on her sister, peeling off her shirt, then Richie’s, kissing her mouth hard and harsh, with tongue and teeth, trying to say _I missed you, I missed you, I missed you_ , biting at Richie’s lips, drawing blood; her kisses tasting bitter and metallic, the taste of regret and lost years.

 _Come to me_ , Richie hears, dull and far away, the woman trying to shove her face over Seth’s but Seth snuffs her out, erases her when she gets Richie down to her skin— _set me free_ , the woman gasps, like a dying breath as Seth blots out the sound with her panting breaths, hitching when Richie slides her fingers between her legs;  _fuck, Richie_ , Seth breathes, when she slides right in, one, then two, Seth wet and taking her easy, her hips jerking forward when Richie curls her fingers inside her, groaning when the pads of Seth’s fingers find her clit.

 _Missed you, sister,_ Seth says, mouthing over Richie’s collarbone and up her through, curled up at her side after, sweat making their skin stick, their legs tangled together, Richie’s fingers knotted in Seth’s hair.

_Missed you, too, baby girl._

When she sleeps, Richie doesn’t dream at all.

 

 

 _They never should have gone to Mexico_  is her heart stopping when the woman appears on stage, real and grinning at her.

 _They never should have gone to Mexico_  is Seth looking at her again with those same eyes, the ones from her memory, looks at her like that over and over, until she says,  _We’re done._

 _They never should have gone to Mexico_ is like a bullet through her back, tearing through her stomach; it’s Seth’s scream, ripping through her eardrums as her heart thuds and she bleeds out across the floor—the woman, the monster, _Santanico Pandemonium_ , dragging her away as Seth’s sobs echo off the stone walls.

 _They never should have gone to Mexico_  is Santanico’s teeth in her neck, remaking her, holding Richie’s head in her lap, stroking her hair as Santanico’s venom burns through her, dismantling her; it’s seeing Seth again as she points a stake in between her ribs and cries, both of them different now, more than just five years and scars that Richie wasn’t there for when they were fresh and bleeding, wasn’t there to bandage and stitch them, to kiss them better.

 _They never should have gone to Mexico_ is making a choice and watching her sister walk away into the sun.

 

 

(But Santanico stops her, rushing ahead and blocking Seth’s path. She reaches out as Seth trembles, recoils, her spine straightening when Santanico’s palms cup her face.

 _I never said sorry_ , she tells Seth, brushing her hair off her shoulders.  _Come with us._

Richie swallows, hearing Seth’s heartbeat loud and pounding in her ears, counts the beats until she breathes out.

 _Sure_ , Seth says, turning around and locking eyes with Richie, the grief there burnt away, leaving only heat, the kind that used to scorch Richie’s skin;  _What else have I got to lose._

Santanico hovers behind her, looking to Richie with her mouth curling at the corners.)

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi to me on [tumblr](http://richiesseth.tumblr.com)!


End file.
